Means fob lubricating ammunition



1. T. THOMPSON.

MEANS FOR LUBRICATING AMMUNITION.

APPUCATION FILED OCT. 15, 19H.

Patented May 27, 1919.

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MEANS Fon Lumcnm AMMUNITION.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. I6. 1911.

1 ,305,028. Patented May 27, 1919.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN T. THOlYIPSON, 0F NEWPORT, KENTUCKY.

MEANS FOIE LUBRICATIN G AMMUNITION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 27, 1919.

Original application filed June 16, 1917, Serial No. 175,152. Divided and this application tiled October 16,

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN T. THOMPSON, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Newport, in the county of Campbell and State of Kentucky, have invented new and useful Improvements in Means for Lubricating Ammunition, of which the fol* lowing is a specification.

The present invention relates to ordnance, this application bein a division of my former ap lication Sr. o. 175,152, iiled June 16, 191 More particularly the invention relates to means for effecting lubrication between the contacting surfaces of the case of a cartridge, shell, or other type of fixed ammunition, and the chamber of the gun or fire arm containing the ammunition, preferably by lubricating the case of a cartridge, shell or other type of fixed ammunition he fore it is seated in the chamber.

The object of the present invention is to provide means for obtaining pro er lubrication between the Contactin sur aces of the ammunition case and the ring chamber of the gun or firearm, so as to reduce and make more uniform and constant the frictional resistance between the contacting surfaces, andl thus facilitate the extraction Iof the ammunition case from the chamber and improve the operation of the iiring device.

More particularly is it the object of my invention to provide a gun or iirearm, or the mechanism for automatically feeding the ammunition thereto, during operation of the gun or firearm, with lubricating means so disposed with respect to the firing chamber as to effect proper lubrication of the contacting surfaces betweenthe ammunition case 1andthe firing chamber. In the preferred' forms 'shown and described in the present 'YillustratedY disclosure `of my invention, the lubricant is applied to the ammunition while the latter' 1s passing into the magazine' or f'r'orn themagazine to theiiring chamber, or both; but, ofjcourse, the desired lubrication may be securedin various other ways, it bein only essential that the ammunitlon be lu ricated by means associated with the gun, or firearm, or the means for feeding the ammunition to the firing chamber, or that" l-ubricationbe effected during or after its introduction to the gun mechanism.

To this end the present invention more articularly involves the use of rotatable u'bricaiiing pads' and lubricating pads having convex surfaces. In the preferred em- Ser'lal No. 196,883.

bodiment of the invention herein illustrated the lubricating pads are both convex and rotatable.

In the drawings herewith, and in the dcscription accompanying those drawings, the invention is s'hown as applied to a magazine riiie of any ordinary or desired construction; the ammunition is shown as a cartridge made up of a charged metallic case or shell with a bullet mounted therein in the usual manner, and the lubricating means is shown as comprising a pad or a series of pads to which the lubricant has been applied, and with which the ammunition is brought into contact while the latter is passing into the magazine or from the magazine to the firing chamber, or both, but it is to be understood that this illustration and description is merely one adaptation of the invention and is in no way restrictive of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a lon itudinal sectional view through so much ci a magazine rifle as is necessary to show the application of one embodiment of my invention thereto, in this embodiment the lubricating pads being disposed within and extending longitudinally of the magazine opening of the receiver.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View taken transversely through the receiver and magazine of a gun structure similar to that shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view taken on a longitudinal line through the magazine openingr of the gun shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. il is a sectional view through a lubricating pad of the preferred form to which the present application is directed.

Fig. 5 is a sectional View taken transversely through the receiver showing the lubricating pad mounted upon the inclined surfaceover which the cartridges ride as they are advanced into the firing chamber.

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal view taken centrallv through Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a transverse vertical sectional view through the magazine portion of another type of gun, and shows another embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 8-8, Fig. 7; and

Fig. 9 is a vertical longitudinal view throu h the structure shown 1n Fig. 7.

Re errmg to the drawings, and more particularly to Fig. l, wherein is disclosed so much of a regulation rifie now used in the United States Army as is necessary to illustrate the application of my invention there. to, 10 designates the stock, 11 the barrel, 12 the breech bolt, 13 the firing pin rod, 14 the striker, 15 the firing chamber of the barrel, and 16 the magazine. Located within the magazine is a follower 17, and the ma ezine is closed by a floor plate 18. The fo lower plate is normally urged upwardly so as to retain the u permo-st cartridge 20 against the overhanging ledge 21, (Fig. 2) by means of a magazine spring 21". Between the magazine and the barrel is a receiver 22 having a slanting or inclined feedin surface 23, which directs the cartridges, uring the feeding of Athe same from the magazine to thc tiring chamber, into the firing chamber. It is not deemed necessary to describe each Iof the parts illustrated, for the construction of these parts and the operation of the gun or rifle will be readily understood by those familiar with this art. It is understood, of course, that during the operation of the gun and upon extraction of the empty ammunition case, the 'bolt 12 is withdrawn from the magazine opening and the follower urges the uppermost shell up wardly against one of the overhanging ledges 21. Upon the forward movement of the bolt, its forward end will engage the uppermost edge of the cartridge and force the same forwardly, and the cartridge will ride u i the inclined feeding surface 23 into the firing chamber.

In the embodiments of my invention dis closed in Figs. 1 to 3, the lubricating means is shown as comprising pads 24 located in the magazine opening of the receiver 22` immediately above the upper edge of the magazine 1G` These pads may be mounted in any suitable manner, but by way of illustration, they are disclosed as being located in grooves 25 extending longitudinally of the magazine opening of receiver 22, and these grooves have their opposite edgesA undercut so that the edges of ythe pads may engage in the undercut portions of the grooves, andbe retained in osition thereby.

The pa s maybe of anysuitable material, andif desired, thev `may be1 constructed of anyr absorbent felt or fabric. Eer ythe pur-l poseiof introducinga lubricant tolthe pads I have disclosed oil holes 26 extending through the stock of the gun and the metallic walls ofthe magazine opening, and, of course, one or moreof these oil ducts may be employed foreach pad.

It will be seen that during t e operation of the .gun yand whilethe cartri ge is being loaded into the magazine or is A[.uassin from the magazine Ato .the firing chamber, t e cartridgesl are successivelybroy ht into engagement with one of the pa s 24 so that the cartridges are `delivered to the ring chamber in a lubricated condition. The pads 1,sou,oas

are located in the path of travel of the cart/oidges to the firing. chamber so that proper lubrication of each cartridge is insured. When employing `a magazine the lubricating means should be so positioned that cach of the cartridges is brought into operative relation to the lubricating means in transit to the firing chamber. The cartridges are fed into the magazine 16 through the magazine opening of the receiver 22, and while being so introduced they come into contact with the lubricating pads 24. I have found that it is not necessary to lubricate the entire circumferential external surface of the car tridges or ammunition, and that it is only necessary to apply the lubricant to the cartrldge a ong one or more lines of its periphery. The amount of lubricant necessary be tween the external surface of the ammunition and the internal surface of the firing chamber to insure a smooth operation ol the gun, is comparatively small, the amount depending, of course, upon the type of gun used.

In Figs. 5 and (i, instead oi' locating the pads adjacent the upper edge of the magazinc 1G, I have illustrated a pad 24" mounted upon the inclined surface 23 up which the cartridges ride when being fed into the liring chamber 15. It will be seen that as the cartridges ride up the inclined surface, they will wipe against the pad so as to take up a proper amount of lubricant.

In Figs. 8 and 91 I have shown my invention applied to a different type of magazine, the cartridges `being arranged in a single column instead of staggered as in Fig. 2, the arrangement being employed in the Ross rifle. The magazine is designated by the numeral 27 and adjacent the upper edge of this magazine are located pads 24, these pads being similar in structure, and being mounted in a manner like those shown in Figs. 1 to 3.

In Fig. 4 I have shown by way of exam.- ple, a preferred method of forming and mounting the lubricating. pads in the gun., The pad 33 is cylindrical and is Inountedto rotate about its axis. While Iihave 4illustrated the roller pad 33 as being mounted in the side of the receiver, in the location as in Figs. 1 and 2, it is to be understood that the lubricating pads of the present invention may be rotatably mounted in either of the positions illustrated in the drawings o-r in other suitable position.

When the pad is rotatably mounted and disposed transverselyto theipathof` the ear` tridges as shown in Fig. 4, the cartrid es cause te pad to rotate as they pass there y, and owing to the frictionafl contact between the cartridges and the pad, the cartrid es will also tend to roll over the pad.; .'I is rotation of either the -pad or the cartridges or both, will cause the lubricant on thc pad to be distributed over the surface of the cartridges in a highly efiicient manner. Moreover, the resistance oifered by the pad to the passage of cartridges is reduced by mounting the pad rotatably. The convex character of the projecting portion of the pad also permits the ready passage of the cartridges.

It will be noted that in each of the embodiments of my invention hereinbefore described the cartridges or ammunition are lubricated after or during their introduction to the gun mechanism, or both. During the movement of the cartridges into, or from the magazine to the firing chamber, the cartridges engage against the lubricating means Which are placed in their path so that the cartridges are suitably lubricated, and proper lubrication between the external surface of each cartridge and the chamber is insured. However, the particular means and the manner for lubricating the cartridges are shown by Way of illustration only; and it isunderstood that proper lubrication of the cartridges during or after their introduction to the gun mechanism, or the means for feeding the cartridges thereto, may be considerably modified within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A gun comprising a firing chamber, and having means movably mounted therein for lubricating ammunition before it is seated in the firing chamber.

2. A gun comprising a firing chamber, and having means rotatably mounted therein for lubricating ammunition before it is seated in the firing chamber.

3. A gun comprising a firing chamber, means for feedin ammunition to the firing chamber, and lu ricating means rotatably mounted along the path of travel of ammunition in transit to the firing chamber for lubricating the ammunition.

4. A gun comprising a firing chamber, means for feeding ammunition to the firing chamber, and lubricating means rotatably mounted along the path of travel of ammunition in transit to the firing chamber for lubricating the ammunition, the lubricating means being disposed transversely of the path of the ammunition so as to be rotated by the ammunition passing therealong.

5. A gun comprising a magazine, a firing chamber, means for feeding ammunition from the magazine to the firing chamber, and a lubricant-carrying bod rotatably mounted between any position o a cartridge in the holder and the firing chamber for lubricating the ammunition.

6. A gun comprising a magazine, a firing chamber, means for feeding ammunition from the magazine to the firing chamber, and a lubricant-absorbent body rotatably mounted between any position of a cartridge in the holder and the firing chamber for lubricating the ammunition.

7. A gun comprising a firing chamber, means for feeding ammunition to the firing chamber, and convex lubricating means extending into the path of the ammunition so as to contact With the ammunition in transit to the firing chamber.

8. A gun comprising a firing chamber, means for feeding ammunition to the firing chamber, and one or more convex lubricating pads extending into the path of the ammunition so as to contact With the ammunition in transit to the firing chamber.

Signed by me at Washington, D. C., this tenth day of October, 1917.

JOHN T. THOMPSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for tive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

